Arlington County, Virginia, celebrates a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrates part of its civil rights history.
Arlington County, Virginia, is celebrating a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrating part of its civil rights history – the 60th anniversary of the lunch counter sit-ins that helped end racial segregation in the United States.
Through June 23, Arlington Arts is offering free commemorative trading cards that will welcome any peaceful protest in seven different locations across the county.
The buildings and shops may have changed since the June 1960 sit-in strikes, but the county has set up a temporary booth in several places with the letter-printed memorial cards. In most cases the cards will be offered at the exact location of each sit-in.
One of the sit-ins took place at the People’s Drugstore on Lee Highway 4709. The Arlington Arts booth is set up on what is now a CVS.
Howard Johnson’s restaurant on Old Dominion Drive, which is another peaceful sit-in, is now a Capital One bank. The commemorative card is available at the Lebanese tavern, 4401 Old Dominion Drive.
A map is available from the Ellen Bozeman Government Center showing locations from Lee Highway to Glebe Road to Shirlington.
The other places the sit-ins took place are:
- Lee-Harrison Drug Fair, now Mattress Company on 5401 Lee Highway;
- Cherrydale Drug Fair, now Hair Vogue on 3815 Lee Highway;
- Buckingham Drug Fair, now CVS at 265 N. Glebe Road
Woolworth-Shirlington near what is now Guapo’s and Lansburgh Department Store near what is now Stellina Pizza have tickets at Busboys and Poets at 4251 Campbell Ave.
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